Trial of the Volturi
by Hellooscottishman
Summary: The Cullens, except for Bella, are called to Volterra.  They are ordered to leave the newborn Bella at home.  She says everything will be fine and she'll be waiting when they get back, but things rarely turn out like that for Bella.
1. The Mail

Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight, this would be in _Breaking Dawn_. Since it is not, I obviously do not own Twilight.

Warning: A couple of _Eclipse_ allusions.

Life was happier than ever in the Cullen household. The werewolves did not declare war over Edward biting me, an event they knew about far in advance because we moved up to Alaska. I shivered. It was cold outside, but I hadn't shivered from that in a long time. I haven't been really cold since I was in that tent with Jacob and Edward. No, I shivered in the pain of remembrance, but I told my self not to think about it.

Edward sneaked up on me and hugged me from behind. He grinned mischievously and I knew he was up to something. "Hello, my love," he said, his voice musical and dancing. I was glad that we could finally be close and not have to hold back. Edward always found ways to entertain me, since I was currently confined to our little home in Alaska. The Cullens bought four houses that were reasonably close to each other.

"Good afternoon, Edward, been hunting?" I asked in mock apathy. I knew what he always wanted right after hunting. Actually, I was sure that he wanted it all the time, but was usually in better control of himself. Hunting and fighting always excited him, a part of him that I didn't know until that fight with the newborns and Victoria when he mentioned something about missing the fun.

He happily responded in the affirmative, and then jumped me. We rolled around on the floor laughing and play fighting. It was then that our mail came. Edward and I got your routine mail, only catalogues and bills, so we weren't anticipating that anything important would arrive.

"Go check the mail, sweetie," I said brightly. I didn't think my voice was anywhere near as beautiful as Alice's or Rosalie's but it was a definite improvement.

He moaned in complaint, "I'm having fun! Who cares about the mail anyway, all I care about is you." He nuzzled into my neck and made a noise bizarrely close to purring. His hands ran over my torso, trying to persuade me.

"Mail," I said firmly.

He sighed, looking cute and put upon. He ran out and returned to the kitchen with the mail within twenty seconds. I had no idea why he complained so much about getting it, it's not like I wouldn't be waiting for him when he got back. It was hard to get angry over such sweet devotion, though.

He quickly sorted through catalogues we would look through and catalogues we would never buy from. Then he reached an envelope addressed to Carlisle, written in beautiful handwriting. There was a pause and he called Carlisle on the phone, asking if he could open this peculiar little message. Carlisle gave him the okay then Edward opened it up. I read over his shoulder after he carefully took it out. It read:

"Dear Carlisle,

We have heard of Miss Bella's transformation and are exceedingly pleased, although we had no doubt that you would change her. We trust that everything has gone as smoothly as possible with her and we assume that she will be adopting your diet as you are most assuredly adopting her.

In light of this, we cordially invite you and your family, excluding the newborn Isabella Cullen, to join us in Volterra. Please be here as soon as possible.

Sincerely yours,

Aro."

Edward's hands shook in anger and then he turned to me, fear in his golden eyes, "Don't worry I won't leave you alone again."

I was a Cullen now, though, and I understood that he had to go. There would be problems if we angered the Volturi and I could not bring that down upon my family. So taking a deep breath, something reassuring from human habit, I told him, "I've matured a lot recently, Edward. If you were to anger the Volturi on my behalf, I could never forgive myself. I will be waiting here when you get back, don't worry. I love you. Go get the rest of our family."

It seemed like too short a time while they talked briefly about different possibilities and then decided, to Edward's extreme displeasure, that the best option was to leave me here and not cause problems with the Volturi. No one was really happy about the way things had turned out, but we weren't sure what to do about it. Carlisle made a call to Tanya's family to come down and baby-sit me. Then we said our goodbyes and they were gone, gone to Italy, and promised to return soon.

I looked around and decided that I would be ok. I would miss Edward, but everything would turn out just fine. I wouldn't even be alone; Tanya was coming down to get me.

Chapter one is done (the easiest chapter to write). I think I'll be updating this much more quickly than the others because it's been on my mind the longest and I have a good idea of where it's going. Review please.


	2. Saved

Nope- I'm just a slow updater. Oh the sorrow. Still don't own anything. Sorry ya'll.

BPOV

They were gone and everything was going to be alright, I was a vampire. I had amazing strength and the ability to block other vampire powers. At least, that's what I kept reminding myself… I saw some movement in the trees and walked out to greet the Denali coven. Unfortunately, my guests weren't who I was expecting.

"My dearest Bella," Jane cooed at me. Other guards were with her. One part of my mind was exceedingly angry with Aro; how dare he send his guard for me? The larger part of me, however, told me to run as fast as I could.

So I attempted escape. Even running as fast as possible, I was no match for Aro's guard. Edward would have left them in the dust, but my inherent clumsiness forced me to slow my speed. I was lucky I'd even gotten a head start, they were used to me being human and it took them a minute to comprehend what was happening.

I was so rushed that when my clumsiness caused me to fall into a hole, I was completely shocked. Suddenly everything went completely dark and someone clamped a hand over my mouth. I struggled against that person, but I failed and that person pulled me close to them and continued to hold my mouth shut. If not for the scent I would have guessed that this man was Edward, he felt just like my beloved. This calmed me, for no guard of the Volturi was even vaguely shaped like Edward. He began to pull me along as he was headed somewhere. He took his hand away for a moment and when I didn't make a sound he grabbed my hand and simply led me.

"Was ist das? Oh! Ist sie gut? Armes Mädchen." a woman said. Some of it sounded like a question by her intonation, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. Were they helping the Volturi? By the concern in her voice, I really doubted it.

"Elle va etre bien, mais les Volturi sont ici. Ils ne savent pas qu'elle est avec nous," said the deep voice beside me. I couldn't quite tell his facial expression, but I was certain he was relieved that this woman had joined us from the way he positioned himself.

She now led the way and soon we broke into daylight and I got to see my saviors. The man was gorgeous, almost as beautiful as Edward. He had long brown hair in a ponytail and wore jeans and a tee-shirt. He looked like he had been about twenty at his death. It was impossible to tell how long he had been a vampire. As I examined him more closely I noticed his red eyes. I had hoped that they would be golden, but I was not so lucky. It didn't mean he couldn't be kind, did it?

I looked to the other woman and was caught by surprise. For a vampire she was incredibly plain, she must have been homely when she was human. Her hair was straight and looked like it was about to turn frizzy any second, she was chubby, and she had no real distinguishing facial features. She wore a blue skirt and a white blouse. She was probably fifteen when she died. She spoke more incomprehensible words at me and her husband translated, "She wants to know if you're alright."

I looked at him, gaping. He spoke English! Why didn't he say anything when we were in the tunnel? "Yes, I don't really have any injuries, I was just running when you found me."

He seemed shocked, "You really didn't notice that one of those brutes took your arm off? You must have really been concentrating hard." Then he turned and spoke gibberish to his wife. She responded with a kind smile on her face. I felt bad for thinking ill of her. They were just being silly though, surely I would have noticed had my arm come off, I looked down at my left arm. It was still there. Then I looked down at where my right arm should have been. It had been severed off right below the shoulder. I began to panic.

"We think the Volturi have probably burned your arm by now," the man said, frightening me, "at the very least they have taken it for bartering with later."

I stood there and contemplated being without an arm. I was sure Edward would still love me. The woman patted my shoulder while I thought. She seemed very kind, maybe they would continue to help me escape from the guard, but I would have to be wary…

My reverie was cut off by something I hadn't felt in a long time, pain. A terrible pain was shooting through my shoulder and down where I could feel an arm that wasn't there. I meant to block the woman's power but I couldn't get past the pain to do it. I tried not to let out a scream, this situation could only be made worse by luring in the Volturi guard.

Abruptly the pain ended and I looked with anger at the poor woman who now looked at the ground, shy and embarrassed. The man, however, grinned like a maniac. I let out a growl by accident and he grabbed my right arm and threw me over his shoulder. He and the woman took off, barely faster than the fastest of the Volturi. The woman seemed to move much faster than him, but kept pace to make sure everything went smoothly.

I looked over to my right, and to my surprise, I saw my arm. It looked just fine and for a second I wondered if I had ever even lost it. I looked over at the woman and thanked her and apologized. She gave me a funny look. I finally understood that she didn't speak English. Well, that would make this whole trip with them just a little bit harder.

Man, I had this all written up, and it took me like a week to add the final two lines. I think it's alright for posting now, so review if you feel like it. Lalala…


	3. Big City Blues

Suddenly, the couple stopped running and the man let me down, we had reached Seattle and there were humans everywhere. I was struck with horror; I had yet to gain self-control around humans, had yet to even see one since my transformation.

"Come on," urged the man as we hurried down the streets. I didn't breathe, hoping it would help me to not kill the innocent people bustling around. I could still smell them a little, and the stench was terrible. I inhaled. The town smelled worse than it ever had to me, it reeked of rust instead of pollution. I was repulsed by people instead of being drawn to them and their blood. Had I not been so worried about the Volturi, I would have celebrated right there in the street.

My breath caught and I stopped momentarily. Demetri, the tracker, was probably with the guard. I focused on him and I willed myself and the two with me undetectable. He would not be able to find us. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Breathing may be unnecessary, but it sure is nice.

The woman and the man looked at one another and he turned to me, "What is the matter? Is there trouble?"

I shook my head, "I needed to make sure that the guard would be unable to find us. They have a tracker with them. Now, we can hide in the city and they won't be able to tell if we've left or stayed. My ability is to block other vampires' abilities." Then I became nervous. Should I have told these strangers what I was capable of? It seemed fair, they had saved me.

He motioned for us to follow as he led the way into a shady hotel, one of those hotels where people usually spend just a couple of hours and rarely stay the night. He pulled out a wallet. Unlike the Cullens, he had very little money with him and I suspected that was all the money they had in the world. "We need to talk, they won't find us here."

Meanwhile, in Volterra…. (Edward's perspective)

I fidgeted, unsure of what was about to happen. The room seemed dark and small. I could feel claustrophobia coming on. It wasn't a problem I've had in the past, but it was mostly likely caused by my apprehension. I wondered how Jasper had felt while Alice was in Volterra with Bella and me. Not knowing if Alice would live or die must have been terrible for him, so I turned to apologize.

_Edward, you look like you're going to fall apart, are you alright?_

I would have blushed, had I been able to. I hadn't realized that I had been tuning out the thoughts of my family; I had been so wrapped up in my own anxieties. Everyone was worried for Bella and me. Well, if I was being honest I'd say that everyone except Emmett was worried about us. He would be, if he could grasp the gravity of the situation. I listened to his thoughts.

_Man these guys are really getting on my nerves. I hope there's a fight, we can take them. Pretentious assholes…_

He looked at me and smiled sheepishly. I must have been staring at him while I read his thoughts. That was unusual for me, _I am really off today. Perhaps when we get home I shall take a long, soothing bath with Bella. There's nothing that feels better than being very clean. _

I listened to Carlisle's thoughts, the thoughts that mattered second most to me in the world, _I wonder why they have us out here. They must be playing mind games with us. This room is very medieval, but not in the way teenage girls enjoy. It reminds me of that one time… _

I looked over to Jasper, if Carlisle thought that the Volturi were playing mind games with us, what did he think? _This is a really effective game they're playing. Trying to crush the will of an opponent, very nice. I love psychological warfare… except when it's that gender thing, although I suppose that's not technically considered warfare. It's so embarrassing what Alice can get me to do._

I looked askance at Alice as situations started to play out in his head. Some of them I had been there for, others I had definitely not. (Although I was glad for the momentary distraction and chance to calm my frayed nerves.) Alice's eyes darted around as she thought of what could happen to us. I could hear in her mind that she was afraid to see what was about to happen, afraid to set us off on the wrong track or cause a problem that we otherwise would not have. At the same time, she wanted to see so that we could adequately prepare. She argued what course she should take with herself.

I leaned forward. Their mental voices were still buzzing in the back of my head, but I pushed them away so that I could consider the situation for myself. _Psychological warfare? What war?_ I wondered. I remembered that no one in Volterra would mourn should the Cullen clan be diminished.

"Jasper," I whispered, "What are they trying to do?"

The others looked interested, something he also noted, so he opened his mouth to speak aloud at the moment one of the Volturi's members entered. It was just their new human secretary. I wondered what had happened to the last one. I shuddered. _Probably nothing I want to think about._

I listened for Jasper's thoughts, which wasn't hard because he was mentally yelling at me to listen. Surprisingly, this vaguely annoyed me because it reminded me of all Jacob Black's thoughts. _This is not the time to worry about Jacob Black! _I mentally reprimanded myself.

_Edward, _he thought with his eyes trained to look ahead and acting like nothing unusual was happening, _I'm concerned about you. I think this is a trap for you and maybe for Alice. I don't know what they want, but make sure you make them give us time to discuss it as a family. Don't rush into anything._

At the same time that I wanted to thank him for the warning, I wanted to tell him that I already knew that. Obviously one doesn't act rashly with the Volturi. Him telling me was unnecessary. _Unless,_ I thought, working hard to make my mind consider the painful thought, _Unless something is about to happen to Bella, unless they are using her as their bargaining chip. They would know that that would affect both Alice and me._ That was another possibility to simply diminishing our numbers, they could be trying to use Bella to get Bella, Alice, and me to join. If they took Alice they would have to accept Jasper, something they would probably be delighted about. I looked over at Jasper in panic. The set of his jaw communicated to me that he was feeling the same, just one wrong move from acting out his dread himself. That was what he was trying to have me figure out on my own. I thought I was going to pass out, I thought I was going to be sick to my stomach, I thought I was going to die again – a more painful and lasting death than my death in 1918. Jasper sent calming waves at me.

"Alice," I whispered, "I want you to try and see what they're going to do in there. If they're going to use Bella as bait for us, I also want you to look into her future."

Alice whispered back, we were speaking too softly for a human to hear, "I've been looking into Bella's future continuously, didn't you know?" She looked confused. I did not know. I was so worried that I had carelessly but impulsively tuned out all of their thoughts, only able to handle my own. "It keeps changing," she said, "At first I saw her being apprehended by Volturi guard to be used against us," I must have had a terrible look on my face because she paused and then continued on faster, "then I saw her with this couple and they all got caught by the guard, but Bella got killed this time. They'd fought back against the guard and killed two members. The man surrendered with his wife after Bella died, the Volturi wanted them to join too, replace the guard members they had just lost. Now I'm seeing them evading the Volturi guard and attempting to find a way to us. I don't know what's going to happen, Edward. I'm sorry."


End file.
